Thank you for the story about poverty in Japan. It was enlightening. Given the work ethic of the Japanese and their other admirable qualities, perhaps a major contributor to their poverty is a lack of good paying jobs compared to living expenses. The population density of Japan (872/sq. mi.) is much greater than that of the U.S. Perhaps gentrification is driving the cost of living to increase much faster than wage increases. An article similar to yours was written three years ago that speculated on the cause of increasing poverty in Japan. More research is warranted to determine the cause because it could be applicable to the U.S.